Travel Like a Pro

By Christian Toto

Many professional athletes make millions playing the game they love. They’re treated like celebrities wherever they go, particularly those at the top of their respective sport. Perhaps one huge downside, though, is they travel as much in a few seasons as some people do in a lifetime. The same holds true for student athletes, who balance both books and high-level competition. Here are seven stories from figures in the sports industry on how they cope with the stresses of travel.

Reggie Rivers
Former Denver Broncos running back

“NFL players don’t travel. They’re transported,” says Rivers. While ordinary travelers wait in line, loiter at the gate, and track travel receipts, NFL players skip most of that drudgery. They ride buses from the team’s facility to the tarmac. Once at their destination, more buses await, and a police escort accompanies them to the hotel. Players receive their itineraries and eat every meal as a team.

Another perk for the modern athlete? Moving along with a gaggle of coworkers. Football players get off the plane and just follow everybody else, which can avoid confusion. In addition to the players, an NFL travel entourage may have coaches, sponsors, security agents, doctors, public relations staffers, and others.

“It’s the opposite of what we all go through,” says Rivers, who is now president of Corporate Kickoff, a Denver-based motivational speakers’ group. “Pro athletes are always traveling with friends and co-workers. Now that I’m in the business world, I’m traveling by myself.”

Some elements of constant travel can’t be mediated by professional handlers, though. Rivers notes how traveling across time zones impacts your circadian rhythms, something players must prepare for in order to exert themselves to their maximum capacity during a game.

Samuel Girard
Colorado Avalanche defenseman

Girard is only 21, but he’s already a pro at the inner workings of NHL travel. As an Avalanche hockey player he logs roughly 55,085 miles, not including a potential post-season, according to team officials.

Girard enjoys some of the perks Rivers mentioned, including charter flights. He also soaked in some advice from veteran players when he joined the Avalanche following a three-way trade from the Nashville Predators in 2017. “They told me to be ready for a long, grinding NHL season. There are 82 games with 41 on the road,” says Girard, who recently signed a 7-year contract extension over the summer. “They said to make sure to use some time off to rest between games.”

No matter the professional perks, an athlete’s manic schedule can take a toll on a player, even one as young as Girard. “Traveling is more tiring than people may think, especially when you change time zones frequently,” says Girard, who loads his iPad with movies for long plane rides. “Obviously, I’m not complaining, but it’s just a reality.”

Mason Plumlee
Denver Nuggets center

Plumlee expands his mind on the road for basketball games. “I’m actually a big fan of art,” he says. “Traveling around the country gives me a chance to see a lot of different galleries and what cities have to offer.”

When he first joined the NBA, veteran teammates told him the value of winding down and getting proper sleep. “That’s the toughest thing when you’re constantly on a plane and amped up from just playing a game,” he says. To relax, Plumlee relies on his laptop and iPad when traveling, and before each trip he makes sure to pack the one thing that can make modern travel a beast—missing cords. “Make sure you have your devices charged and all your charging cords packed up,” he says. “It’s never fun to have to go track those down when you’re on the road.”

Jerry Schemmel
Colorado Rockies radio announcer

Schemmel is a road warrior of a different kind—one of the radio announcers for the Colorado Rockies. Baseball players enjoy many of the same perks Rivers and Girard describe. “We basically park our cars and walk onto the plane. On the road, the bus comes out to the tarmac and picks us up,” says Schemmel, heard during the season on KOA NewsRadio in Denver. “So, right from the beginning, we have a huge advantage over regular commercial travel.”

Schemmel uses his airplane down time for broadcast prep. He’s not glued to his tablet watching movies like most players are. When it’s close to hearing, “Play Ball,” he calls his wife en route to the ballpark. “After a game, if it’s not too late, when I get on the bus, I will call her again. It’s a good, productive habit I’ve gotten into,” he adds. Schemmel also works out daily in the hotel fitness room to stay strong. “I’m a big fan of protein and nutrition bars. They save a lot of effort and money,” say Schemmel. “It’s one way I avoid the many road temptations.”

Zach Currier
Denver Outlaws midfielder

As a professional field lacrosse player, Currier travels as lightly as possible when he’s shuttling between cities. “I bring two carry-ons—a back pack and a small bag—so I don’t have to check a bag,” Currier says. He also wears his heaviest clothing to the airport during the chilliest months. “It saves a lot of room in your suitcase.”

Another tip came after so many hours wasted in airport terminals. He refuses to panic when the gate announcer starts the boarding process. “Boarding time doesn’t mean the plane is leaving. Everyone freaks out [over it],” he says. “I’m not just sitting there, waiting. I’m grabbing some food.”

On the technical side, he downloads a few Netflix shows or movies onto his tablet to watch in the air sans Wi-Fi. When he wants to surf the web above the Earth, he leans on travel apps from Delta and United to help him secure Wi-Fi connections when available.

Cyrus Pearo
Former University of Colorado–Denver cycling team captain

“Planning makes all the difference,” say the former cyclist. “Sometimes getting a plan in place is akin to herding cats, and there’s no such thing as too much time ahead for a plan. Plus, it helps tremendously with costs, in terms of carpooling, figuring out logistics with housing, buying food in bulk for cooking instead of eating out and the like.”
Pearo admits eating healthy on the road is a serious challenge. “Over the years I made invaluable investments in cooler bags and Tupperware,” he says. He even brought his own air mattress during his collegiate travels for a measure of consistency. “These smaller factors add up substantially, especially when you’re in a new environment, and need to be performing at your best.”

Music offers both solace and a distraction when stuck in travel mode. While his peers jam to streaming services like Spotify, Pearo prefers having a “hard copy” of his favorites in case connectivity conks out. “A long road trip without a good playlist and iPhone connectivity is a tribulation if there ever was one,” he says. For those understandably addicted to their travel tech, he recommends buying an external battery for recharging phones, tablets, and other go-to gadgets.

Kamran Madani
University of Colorado–Denver karate champion

This full-time CU Denver online student and 2020 Olympic hopeful, travels globally while competing in karate competitions. His schedule gives him a glimpse of the world others miss. “Being able to “taste test” each [country] and see how they differ from each other opened my mind in new ways,” Madani says. “From the way people interact with one another to how people’s daily schedules work, experiencing other cultures is a huge privilege.”

Traveling internationally threatens to disrupt his sleep patterns, though. He prepares accordingly. That’s critical when visiting European and Asian countries with dramatically different time zones. “If possible, try to stay up all day when arriving and drink cherry juice when it is bed time,” he says. The juice includes natural melatonin enhancers to help you fall asleep.

Dining on the road is more complicated for Madani since he competes in a sport with strict weight categories. He’ll avoid some local cuisine and stick to the tried and true to ensure a proper weight. So, sampling exotic fare isn’t the best option. Once his competition is over, though, he’ll let loose a bit and savor what the countries in question have to offer.

While athletes certainly have some advantages over the rest of us when they travel, we could all learn a lesson from their agendas.

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, conservative film critic, and radio show co-host. Follow his podcast, “The Hollywood in Toto Podcast,” at hollywoodintoto.com.